Dressed-up fruits

Add sparkle to autumn colors with this easy centerpiece idea. Choose a few pears or apples and decorate with adhesive decals in silver, bronze, and gold tones. Group together in a bowl or place along a table runner.

Corks and candles

This super-easy centerpiece showcases the rustic, natural texture of wine corks inside a footed clear-glass candleholder. For more fall color, add leaves or berries among the corks. Make sure any flammable materials are protected from the candle, or use a battery-powered candle for safety.

China and roses

Rummage through your old china—or find vintage mismatched pieces at a garage sale— to create this pretty tiered display. Use a large china plate as the base, then stack teacups and smaller plates. Add fresh or artificial orange flowers on each level, and place a small amount of foliage in the top teacup.

Wheat and corn centerpiece

Create a simple fall centerpiece using wheat and dried corn. Start by filling a container with floral foam. Insert wheat stalks so they fan out around the edges of the foam, then top with ears of corn. For special-occasion place settings, attach a name card to an extra cob set on each plate.

Mummy-look

Wrap plaster-cloth strips (from a crafts store) around a balloon, following the directions on the plaster-cloth package. Leave open spaces as you wrap. When dry, remove the balloon and use a crafts knife to cut an opening for inserting the light. Place sphere over an orange or white battery-operated votive. Set your spheres on clear glass cake stands or similar displays.

Creative candleholders

Use repurposed candleholders for easy fall displays of small pumpkins and gourds. Look for inexpensive candleholders in varying heights at a garage sale or antiques store, then spray-paint black for a unified look.

Colorful collection

A papier-mache hatbox, mums and pumpkins create a bright orange centerpiece. Glue fabric and rickrack to the hatbox, and add rickrack or ribbon to pumpkins to get the look shown here. A bowl of candy corn adds a festive touch.

Naturally simple

Pears, nuts, fall leaves and wheat grouped in a wire bowl form a pretty centerpiece that celebrates autumn's bounty. Accent the display with a solid-color table runner and chartreuse Hypericum berries grouped in small glass vases or cups.

Bountiful tabletop

Create a beautiful table display that shows off the bounty of the season. Cylindrical vases filled with birdseed provide a sturdy base for branches from which small pumpkins dangle on bits of twine. Between the vases, hollowed-out gourds hold candles as well as berries. Finish the look by arranging berries, pinecones, gourds, branches and moss around the vases.

Creative runner

You might have trouble keeping the piles of foliage outside in order, but these leaves march in perfect rows across a table runner.

Use a stencil or rubber stamp and fabric or crafts paint to decorate a plain linen cloth. Follow instructions on the paint container for setting and washing the finished design. The same technique can be used to create other fall linens for your home, such as hand towels or even pillowcases.